Defending the firing or defending the coach

[lo country]

Another thread. I know.

 

In reading through all of the fire Riley threads, one thing stands out to me, no one is really defending his abilities per say.

 

I am just wondering for this who support Riley, is it because of his abilities and potential or because you feel a coach, regardless of upside/potential etc he should be given more than one year.

 

I understand defending the idea of not firing a first year coach. It might make hiring a quality coach an issue, scare away recruits etc... Firing a 10-3 Solich didn't work out and although Bo wasn't right anymore, record wise it hasn't worked yet.

 

So are you against the firing because you think he is a good coach and can really get us to the next level? What do you base this on.

[brophog]

'Or' is the most dangerous word.

[Hedley Lamarr]

I'm for him having a little more time. Schematically our passing game is extremely good. We have great route combinations that result in guys running wide open. We need a QB capable of making these progressions and we would have a completely different type of year.

 

Defense has dramatically improved by years end. We seem to have found a few CBs that can handle their own. Our LBs are young and will improve and our DL will be stout next season as well.

 

Offensively we just need a QB who can make smart decisions and we will be damn good IMO

[Scratchtown]

I was not for retaining Riley even after beating Michigan State. The Purdue game gave me a horrible taste in my mouth and I can't let that be excused. However, there is a bit of me that wants to see POB come in and have a shot. The thing is. I think Riley will get to see the POB era through it's entirety.

[lo country]

I'm for him having a little more time. Schematically our passing game is extremely good. We have great route combinations that result in guys running wide open. We need a QB capable of making these progressions and we would have a completely different type of year.

 

Defense has dramatically improved by years end. We seem to have found a few CBs that can handle their own. Our LBs are young and will improve and our DL will be stout next season as well.

 

Offensively we just need a QB who can make smart decisions and we will be damn good IMO

Not a fan of Riley, but you make some very valid points. Was hoping to see more "facts" and less emotion.

 

After seeing still photos of open receivers just standing there, it is tempting to imagine an O that has a QB who can make and progress reads. The D has improved. I think Banker is the reason. Not Stewart IMO. Banker at least has some entertatingin quotes at every presser.

 

If we continue to pass, I would love to see Riley reach out to David Shaw and learn that O, maybe even try and hire away Bloomgren to be our OC. Just not a fan of Langs. Love Stanfords power run game. (we need to recruit OL)

[ColoradoHusk]

If you think Riley is going to try "something new" at age 63, you are sorely mistaken. He has been coaching this offense for 30 years, he's not going to do anything differently now.

[Ric Flair]

I'm for him having a little more time. Schematically our passing game is extremely good. We have great route combinations that result in guys running wide open. We need a QB capable of making these progressions and we would have a completely different type of year.

Defense has dramatically improved by years end. We seem to have found a few CBs that can handle their own. Our LBs are young and will improve and our DL will be stout next season as well.

Offensively we just need a QB who can make smart decisions and we will be damn good IMO

Agreed. Give him more time. Wanting to fire him after one season is ridiculous. Some here don't appreciate what a dumpster fire Pelini left behind. With a better play at QB and RB, this could be a damn good team.

[KazLong]

Les Miles, if fired we should hire him immediately if he would come to our dumpster fire.

[Huskerzoo]

I felt good about the Iowa game outside of TA's choices. I see a lot of reason for optimism and at the bare minimum would like to give HCMR some time with the QB he was able to recruit. I'm not thrilled about the outcomes all year, but I saw the team playing better as time went by. Given how the running game was going (good but not great, coming up big when we needed it), there's a high potential to live or die by the QBs arm. I'm curious to see what moving forward will look like, but I don't think we're out of anything.

[alwayshusking]

I like what I saw in the last 3 games, minus the TOs of course. If this team had played with that effort all season they'd have had a decent year. Sucks it took until game 10 to start playing though.

 

Transitions aren't always smooth unfortunately, for various reasons. Pelini and Andersen both struggled in their 1st seasons at new programs. I don't think they are bad coaches nor are they completely off the hook for their disappointing seasons.

 

We'll see what these coaches have next year and hopefully the years to come. There'll be no buy in issues, they'll have a better feel for their personnel, and more depth across the board. If Riley turns in a Charlie Strong like 2nd year we'll need to have a conversation.

[TheSker]

Riley's philosophy will not work here. I wish he were gone now, but I know that isn't happening. He is absolutely on a hot seat and next season could easily be his last as head coach of the Husker football team.

[Vitalis Jackson]

Squeaky wheels, you know. Internet America has become a shoddy world of squeaky wheels. I do feel that most Husker fans understand quite well what a train wreck Pelini left behind. We all probably know some of those odd Pelini fans that still inexplicably defend him. I think those people will continue to be the loudest, and I think that the haters will always outnumber everyone else on any message board about any given subject.

 

So, no, I don't think opinions gathered from this message board are very meaningful relative to actual perceptions of this coaching staff in the real world.

[huskerfan74]

For the love of God people, wake up and smell the roses. Last year, when Mike Riley was hired, almost everyone from Oregon State told us what to expect. A 0.500 type of season with may be one surprising win against a ranked opponent. That is exactly what we got. And that is exactly what we will continue to get with this coaching staff. How will this ever change if it hasn't over Mike Riley's very long career? It will be more of the same sh#t next year and they will say that the team has not adjusted to POB or he is still learning the system or some other crap excuse that people here seem to eat up like it were vitamins.

 

And for those who say we were not blown out in any game, newsflash, having a 2-10 Purdue team hang 55 points on us is a Blow Out and a huge embarrassment given the fact that Purdue did not score more than 35 points in any other game and have not beaten any other Big 10 team. There are more than six first year coaches that did wonders with their teams. This coach is supposedly experienced and not a 35 year old coach at the beginning of his career. These results are unacceptable and people who make excuses or want these coaches to have another year hoping for a chmapionship run next year are dillusional and need serious medication.

 

The sooner we end this experiment the better. However, I am smart enough to know that nothing will change and this coaching staff will have at least one to two years of this sh**ty performance and at that point, Riley will retire with a nicely financed bank account, chewing his gum all the way to Hawaii, while the state of Nebraska attempts to pick up the shattered pieces. At that point, we would have slipped so far into irrelevance that the way back will be nothing short of a miracle. This is the reality and anything else is a bunch of rainbows and unicorns.

 

Having said that, I will always bleed Husker Red and I will hope that my beloved Huskers win every game.

[MichiganDad3]

I do not think this staff is very good. Turnovers, penalties and game management are very poor, and have been for MR's entire career. The QB position was handled terribly this year. There is no way a player like TA should have been throwing this much, and making the decisions we saw him make. Add Fyfe's 55 passes as a 1st time starter in bad weather. I don't think the RBs were handled well either. Jano didn't get a single carry today, and we chose a fade to the end zone over Jano leading Cross on 4th and 1. There were special teams miscues, and the D was bad most of the year. IMO this is a typicl MR year: upset a good team, get killed by a bad team, and finish around 500. There is no evidence to suggest MR will take a team to the top 10.

 

I am not sure much can be don until we get a new chancellor. SE cannot be trusted to hire another coach. If we lose the sellout streak next year, changes will happen in a hurry.

[Saunders]

He gets another year by default. His seat is going to be on fire all offseason. And with such a historically bad first year, a 7-8 win season may buy him more time.